Shoppers wait for hours, buy late into the night

As some of us were digesting our Thanksgiving meals, others were in line ready for Black Friday deals. Some stores even held sales early, making for a pre-Black Friday shopping feast.

The line at Best Buy in Williston started growing at 10 a.m.

“You’ve got to sit in the long line just to get the television,” said John Graves. That four hours doesn’t even account for all of the waiting. Graves was the first in line at Best Buy, and this is his seventh year camping out ahead of midnight when the store opens.

“With the economy the way it is, any savings you can get is worth it,” said Sonja Blodgett, who traveled to Burlington from the North East Kingdom.

“I have some friends in line who are doing it and I said, 'I'm going to go back to work and say I did it too,’” said Carol O’Connell, a self-proclaimed first time midnight shopper.

By 10 p.m., nearly 200 people stretched around Best Buy waiting to get their hands on deals like nearly 50 percent off a television.

It was a similar story at Toys ‘R Us. Hundreds of people stretched down the block waiting to get in. Brenda Hamlin of Essex, Vt. got in line at 2 p.m.

“It’s just become a tradition for my daughters and I to be here -- first in line, it's always exciting,” she said.

Wal-Mart in Williston was open all night. The deals started there at 8 p.m. The store can hold 3,200 people, and by 7:45 p.m. it was at capacity. Everyone just getting there had to wait outside.

The growing line snaked around the back of the building. In front, about a dozen protesters called out the big-box company for what they said was ill treatment of its workers.

“Wal-Mart is saving money by not paying people a decent wage or benefits,” said David Feurzeig. “We, the tax payers of the country, are supporting Wal-Mart . We are paying the benefits.”

The majority of shoppers only had one thing on their minds: Get what we came here for.

“It’s a holiday, it's something to do,” Blodgett said. “It's warm. It’s not that bad for this time of year.”

Protesters are expected at Wal-Marts across the country as part of a nationwide demonstration.

Otherwise, if you weren’t in line early, it looked like you missed out on the deals, but of course the holiday season has officially started.

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